An Indian national has been arrested for alleged involvement in a kidney trafficking racket operating across Sri Lanka, India and Turkey, according to The News Minute.    

25-year-old D S Pavan Srinivas, was arrested by Hyderabad police on Saturday and accused of arranging around nine kidney transplants, earning a commission of Rs 6 lakhs for each one.

Srinivas was also accused of deceiving a family last year by collecting Rs 34 lakhs from them and fleeing despite promising them a kidney transplant. The couple had met Srinivas at a hospital where the husband was a dialysis patient. Srinivas promised to arrange the surgery, accommodation and a kidney but disappeared after failing to find a viable donor.

Police investigations showed that he had spent the money at casinos in Sri Lanka and that he allegedly began the operation in 2013 after he donated his own kidney for money in Sri Lanka. After realising the market potential, he was prompted to develop connections with doctors and use social media to lure vulnerable individuals as donors.

Kidney trafficking concern in Sri Lanka

In recent years, many vulnerable individuals trapped in debt have often turned to selling organs to repay loans and sustain their livelihoods. “First, it was the tsunami that destroyed our community. Then came the war. Now, it’s microfinance,” said a Batticaloa native who planned to sell his kidney to repay microfinance loans. “They say I will get LKR 8-9 lakhs (about ₹3.7 lakhs).”

Kidney trafficking cases have previously been uncovered in Sri Lanka in the past. Last year, another Indian national was arrested after confessing to involvement in kidney trafficking and admitting to being a victim to kidney racket themselves.

In 2016, the arrest of eight Indian citizens in Colombo for overstaying their visas revealed that six of the men had had their kidneys removed as part of an alleged organ trade operating on the island. This incident followed the discovery of a group of doctors responsible for around 60 illegal kidney transplants, leading to the Sri Lankan government cancelling all transplant operations for foreigners on the island.

In 2013, London-based newspaper The Times, claimed government-controlled hospitals in Colombo, chaired by current president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, were offering British patients black market organ transplants.

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